How do we know that we reason without reasoning about reason?

The text below is a comment I posted in response to Hope for the Future: Balancing Scientific Temper and Spiritual Wisdom:

Many of the scientists and mathematicians that established the foundations of our modern world also contemplated the nature of consciousness and the Absolute. This is a fact worth emphasizing to those with and without faith.

The scientific community's conscious decision to solely consider the observable, measurable and reasonable has led to significant advances, but for what purpose?

Human reasoning has limits, especially when the major premise of such reasoning is restricted to a self-conception based upon observable phenomena. But what is the nature of the observer (consciousness) apart from the observed phenomena? In other words, how do we know that we reason without reasoning about reason?

Science will have to address such questions through synthesis, as you have suggested. Thankfully, there is a developing trend entitled “contemplative science” which draws upon the introspective methods long established by monastic traditions, including Hinduism and Buddhism.

If the contemplative method of inquiry is pursued sincerely, science may finally consider an alternate premise: Absolute truth does not concede to our limited experience—it is at least as conscious as we are. Being so conscious the Divine must have will and must will to joy. If the Divine wills to joy, then all purpose must be centered upon participating. Therefore, knowledge of how to participate must necessarily descend from the Divine himself. And above all, permission to participate in the joyful play of the Divine must be granted, never assumed.

At the end of reasoning lies a humble petition to the very knowledge we seek to grasp: an appeal to be possessed by that knowledge itself.

Calvin and Hobbes: Math is a Religion

This reminds me of Gödel's incompleteness theorems:

Any effectively generated theory capable of expressing elementary arithmetic cannot be both consistent and complete. In particular, for any consistent, effectively generated formal theory that proves certain basic arithmetic truths, there is an arithmetical statement that is true, but not provable in the theory.

For any formal effectively generated theory T including basic arithmetical truths and also certain truths about formal provability, T includes a statement of its own consistency if and only if T is inconsistent.

Sri Venkateswara is coming to Cary, NC!

I've wanted to visit the temple of Sri Venkateswara for a very long time. The original temple is located in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh, India, and there are several outside of India.

But now a temple is opening right down the road in Cary, NC! I'm so excited!

The South Asian magazine Saathee has an article and detailed schedule of the opening, which will last an entire week.

How you feel the world impacts how you see it

From MIT news:

"In the classic waterfall illusion, if you stare at the downward motion of a waterfall for some period of time, stationary objects -- such as rocks -- appear to drift upward. MIT neuroscientists have found that this phenomenon, called motion aftereffect, occurs not only in our visual perception but also in our tactile perception, and that these senses actually influence one another. Put another way, how you feel the world can actually change how you see it -- and vice versa."

Gnosticism vs Agnosticism vs Theism vs Atheism (image)

Now that I'm 30 years old...

I turned 30 on April 5, 2009. Here is a list of thoughts for the occasion:

• Life is a great mystery and has no significance until you give it meaning. Embrace your free will but seek wise advice.


• While you are young: travel, fall in love, make mistakes and be foolish. As you grow older you will have more to loose and be reluctant to take risks.


• Voluntarily live in poverty for a period of time. You'll never take anything for granted again.


• Recognize the the limitations of your own mind which has been habituated by culture. Strive to overcome these limitations by continually exposing yourself to new ideas and experiences.


• You will discover your strengths by continually pushing your limits. Along the way you'll also discover your weaknesses; accept them and those of others.


• Regularly contemplate death. The more you accept the temporal nature of all things, the more you'll appreciate the beauty of life in the present moment--that's really all we have.

Interesting Links and Articles

• The Philoctetes Center Multidisciplinary Study of the Imagination "was established to promote an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to the understanding of creativity and the imaginative process."


• I'm not looking, honest! "[Kazuhiro Yokota, of Osaka University in Japan, and his colleagues] managed to do what had previously been thought impossible: they probed reality without disturbing it. Not disturbing it is the quantum-mechanical equivalent of not really looking. So they were able to show that the universe does indeed exist when it is not being observed." (The Economist, Mar 5th 2009)


• IBM plans 'brain-like' computers "'We are attempting a 180 degree shift in perspective: seeking an algorithm first, problems second. We are investigating core micro- and macro-circuits of the brain that can be used for a wide variety of functionalities.'" (BBC News, Friday, 21 November 2008)


• The coming evangelical collapse "We are on the verge – within 10 years – of a major collapse of evangelical Christianity. This breakdown will follow the deterioration of the mainline Protestant world and it will fundamentally alter the religious and cultural environment in the West." (Michael Spencer, Tue Mar 10, 2009)


• The Happiness of the People "America's current leaders seem to be leading us down the path to European-style social democracy. But although it makes for pleasant lives, the European model stifles human flourishing and erodes the civic and cultural institutions and habits that make for a vibrant, sustainable, and satisfying way of life. Moreover, critics of the European model are about to get a boost from scientific discoveries in neuroscience and genetics that human nature is not malleable, which will undercut the foundations of social democracy. The answer: American exceptionalism, in which individuals freely unite to construct a civic culture. What follows is the text of Charles Murray's Irving Kristol Lecture, delivered at AEI's Annual Dinner at the Washington Hilton on March 11, 2009." (Charles Murray, March 12, 2009)


• Is That Your Final Answer? Study Suggests Method For Improving Individual Decisions "Dialectical bootstrapping is a method by which an individual mind averages its' own conflicting opinions, thus simulating the 'wisdom of the crowd.' In other words, dialectical bootstrapping enables different opinions to be created and combined in the same mind." (ScienceDaily, Mar. 14, 2009)


• The Equality Trust "believe[s] that in order to gain substantial improvements in the real quality of life of the populations of developed countries it is necessary that differences in income and wealth are greatly reduced. [...] However, differences in income and wealth will only be reduced when there is a widespread public understanding of the benefits which greater equality can bring to all of us. "


• Living Well is More Important then Organic Fruit "Please go out there and do. Live. Don’t be the same as yesterday. Don’t live vicariously online. Don’t use language that has no meaning or talk ideas you don’t really live. Don’t hide. Don’t copy others or live their ideas or life. Don’t fear doing your thing. Don’t fear doing. Instead of reading a decorating magazine, paint that room. Instead of thinking of baking, do up a cake. Run, walk, bike. Put that self help book down and pick up yourself."


• 'Eye for an eye' approach does not pay, study "Living by the motto 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth' makes people less happy and successful, a study has found." (John Bingham, 25 Mar 2009)